Lighting is one of the most critical parts of a business or organization. Employees can’t work, customers can’t consume, and schools and medical facilities are crippled without it. If you’ve decided to make the energy efficient and money saving switch from incandescent, fluorescent, or metal halide lighting, there’s plenty of lighting rebates and tax incentive programs to help you save on this investment.

• · ENERGY STAR partners often sponsor rebates, sales tax exemptions or credits, and recycling incentives. Use the Special Offer/Rebate Finder to find out what offers are currently available in your area.
• · Federal tax credits can reduce the amount of income tax your business has to pay. The U.S. Small Business Administration provides information about energy efficient upgrade tax credits for homebuilders, manufacturers, and owners or lessees of commercial buildings.
• · The U.S. Department of Energy allows you to search for rebates and incentives that support energy efficiency by state, and keep an up to date list of nationwide programs that are available to both residential and commercial consumers.
• · Always check with your utility company to see what type of money-saving tools they offer. Often programs aren’t limited to rebates and include energy efficient financing, light bulb discounts, lamp exchanges, retrofit incentives, new construction design savings and more.

Lighting efficiency has its advantages. Depending on the type of business you operate, lighting can account for 20% to 50%of your energy consumption. Your organization can save significant amounts of money by upgrading and taking advantage of available lighting rebates and tax credits. And, because the energy efficient lighting industry is always improving, lighting can provide some of your highest return on investment rates.